Raspberry Pi Compute Module: Our Favourite Mini-PC Gets Even Smaller

Last we heard from Raspberry Pi, it was celebrating its second birthday last month. Soon as the celebrations subsided it has given its fans around the world another reason to celebrate with the launch of its smaller variant titled Raspberry Pi Compute Module. The Compute Module contains the innards of Raspberry Pi in the space of a stick of DDR2 laptop memory. Yes, the board fits into a standard DDR2 SODIMM connector which is used by laptop RAMs but you cannot go plugging it into your laptop as the pin arrangement is quite different. After this small note of caution let’s proceed and know more about this new offering from Adafruit.

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The Raspberry Pi Compute Module contains BCM2835 processor, 512MB of RAM and a 4GB eMMC Flash device. While the memory module in on-board the remaining interfaces can be used with the help of connector pins. The Compute Module was designed with the purpose of simplifying the Raspberry Pi to make sure that developers can design custom systems. The Compute Module can be used by folks who want to create their own PCBs. Rest of us can take the advantage of the module by plugging it to the Compute Module IO Board which is a open-source breakout board. The board powers up the module and helps in programming the Compute Module’s Flash memory. Access to the processor interfaces is also simplified as it features regular HDMI and USB connectors. Once the hardware is set up the user can boot Raspbian OS or any other OS of his/her choice.

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The Raspberry Pi Compute Module Development Kit that contains both the Compute Module and IO Board will be available from RS and element14 starting June 2014. The Custom Module will be sold independently in batches of 100 for $30.